Harding's Herron Has Host Of Offers In Hand

Gary Housteau

04/07/2006

After playing with a lot of talented juniors last season, Warren G. Harding High School is looking to rebound successfully from a 3-7 campaign this coming year. Three-year starter Daniel Herron is one of those returning guys being counted on to help the Raiders get back into the playoffs and win a post-season game again. Herron already has offers from four Big Ten schools and he's willing to wait patiently to see if Ohio State or any of the other schools in the conference expand that list.

Other than Brandon Saine from Piqua High School, who can boast of having scholarship offers from Ohio State, Notre Dame and Michigan, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of separation between some of the other top running back prospects in the state of Ohio in terms of getting the big-time offers up to this point.

Daniel Herron from Warren G. Harding High School has to be considered one of the top running back prospects and his offer list is starting to create some separation in that regard.

"Recruiting is looking pretty good right now. I have five offers from Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan State and Boston College," said Herron after completing his events at the 14th Annual F.E. Cope Invitational track meet on Friday night. "I pretty much have a lot of schools still looking at me but it's still early so I'm just waiting."

Unfortunately for Herron at this time, none of his "Big Three" have extended him an offer yet.

"I'm hoping that Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State would offer me," he said. "I'd really like for any of them three to offer me so I'm just waiting."

Herron is in his first year running track at Harding and his two relay teams that he raced on finished first. He also long jumps for the Raiders.

"I thought I did really good today," he said. "I ran on the 4X100 and 4X200 relay teams and we came in first place in both events so I did pretty good."

Track is important to him but more importantly it's giving him a chance to train hard and keep in shape for his senior season on the gridiron.

"I want to keep my speed up and I want to get faster, and I want to stay in shape. So track is helping me out a lot," Herron said. "Besides I think both of our relay teams have a good chance of going to state. I'm looking forward to making it down to Columbus."

Ultimately Herron hopes to play college football in Columbus some day, be it as a member of the Ohio State Buckeyes or as visitor on one of the other schools in the Big Ten. Herron, at 5-11 and 195 pounds, is already a two-year starter for the Raiders at running back and he's coming off of a junior campaign where he rushed for 1,500 yards and scored 17 touchdowns.

"My future is looking good right now. I'm working hard and I'm getting stronger in the weight room and I have a lot of Big Ten schools looking at me," Herron said. "Things are going real good."

Credit his solid work ethic that complements his aggressive running style well.

"I just try to be a hard-nosed running back," Herron said. "I've got good vision, I run down hill, I'm hard to tackle and I can put a move on you. I sort of try to be like a Reggie Bush. I run hard, make moves and I can run people over. I can catch and do it all."

He might not quite have the breakaway speed that a Reggie Bush has but Herron runs pretty well on the track and he ran well at Ohio State's camp last year.

"Last summer at Ohio State's camp I ran a 4.52 so I'm hoping that I can run a 4.4 now," Herron said. "I'm working hard on my speed."

Herron suffered a slight fracture in his back during his sophomore season but he played in pain through the injury. Herron incredibly rushed for 279 yards and scored four touchdowns against Tyrell Sutton and the Hoban Knights to close out the regular season that year. Sutton, Ohio's Mr. Football award winner that season, ran for 406 yards and also scored four times in a 46-35 loss to the visiting Raiders.

"In my sophomore year I fractured my back in the St. Ed's game and it kind of slowed me down," Herron said. "There were some games that I wasn't suppose to play in but I just pushed my self to play. If you watch my sophomore film and you watch my film now, you can tell by my speed that I was kind of hurt. It was serious and at one point they were saying that I might have to sit out for a year. But everything worked out all right and I've worked on my speed a lot since then."

Last year was sort of a disappointment for Herron and his Harding team mates who finished the campaign with a 3-7 mark and missed the post-season.

"I just kept working hard and I kept running hard and I kept my head up and I made it through," Herron said. "It was a tough season. It was rough. But I think we're going to have a strong team this year so we should bounce back all right. We have a good junior class, we're very competitive and we're ready to play ball."

Herron's big brother David, who was the fullback for Maurice Clarett at Harding, starts at linebacker for Michigan State and more than a couple former Raiders have gone on to play college ball at Michigan. Herron could see himself playing for either of those two schools.

"Mario (Manningham) calls me a lot and tells me to come to Michigan and stuff like that and then there's my brother (a fifth-year senior next year) at Michigan State," Herron said. "But like people do say, all the kids from Harding go to Michigan."

And Herron can't really explain the reason why.

"They just show us a lot of love," he said. "They come and see us a lot and that might convince us to go to Michigan."

Herron attended the Michigan-Ohio State game in Ann Arbor this past season.

"I had actually been there to see my brother play there before but that was my first time as a recruit," he said. "It was nice. There was a lot of people and it was a real good game."

And Herron was in Columbus for the Ohio State-Michigan State game as well..

"That was really nice also," he said. "Ohio State showed me a lot of love and it was real nice."

Herron certainly believes that he's worthy of being recruited by schools in the Big Ten but he's not really caught up in all of the rankings. He's currently ranked as the 31st top prospect in the state in the most recent issue of Ohio High magazine. There are five other running backs ranked ahead of him.

"I just want to get it done on the field and let things fall where they may," Herron said. "I'd like for me to be the man on the top of the list but if people don't feel the same then I have to make them feel the same. I'm very confident in my abilities. Very confident."

Herron has 3.2 GPA and will take the ACT for the first time in May. He's planning to attend the spring games at Michigan and Ohio State this year. He certainly wouldn't mind having the chance to choose between those two schools.

\r\n \r\n \r\n\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n","mobileBody":"Other than Brandon Saine from Piqua High School, who can boast of having scholarship offers from Ohio State, Notre Dame and Michigan, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of separation between some of the other top running back prospects in the state of Ohio in terms of getting the big-time offers up to this point.

Daniel Herron from Warren G. Harding High School has to be considered one of the top running back prospects and his offer list is starting to create some separation in that regard.

\"Recruiting is looking pretty good right now. I have five offers from Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan State and Boston College,\" said Herron after completing his events at the 14th Annual F.E. Cope Invitational track meet on Friday night. \"I pretty much have a lot of schools still looking at me but it's still early so I'm just waiting.\"

Unfortunately for Herron at this time, none of his \"Big Three\" have extended him an offer yet.

\"I'm hoping that Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State would offer me,\" he said. \"I'd really like for any of them three to offer me so I'm just waiting.\"

Herron is in his first year running track at Harding and his two relay teams that he raced on finished first. He also long jumps for the Raiders.

\"I thought I did really good today,\" he said. \"I ran on the 4X100 and 4X200 relay teams and we came in first place in both events so I did pretty good.\"

Track is important to him but more importantly it's giving him a chance to train hard and keep in shape for his senior season on the gridiron.

\"I want to keep my speed up and I want to get faster, and I want to stay in shape. So track is helping me out a lot,\" Herron said. \"Besides I think both of our relay teams have a good chance of going to state. I'm looking forward to making it down to Columbus.\"

Ultimately Herron hopes to play college football in Columbus some day, be it as a member of the Ohio State Buckeyes or as visitor on one of the other schools in the Big Ten. Herron, at 5-11 and 195 pounds, is already a two-year starter for the Raiders at running back and he's coming off of a junior campaign where he rushed for 1,500 yards and scored 17 touchdowns.

\"My future is looking good right now. I'm working hard and I'm getting stronger in the weight room and I have a lot of Big Ten schools looking at me,\" Herron said. \"Things are going real good.\"

Credit his solid work ethic that complements his aggressive running style well.

\"I just try to be a hard-nosed running back,\" Herron said. \"I've got good vision, I run down hill, I'm hard to tackle and I can put a move on you. I sort of try to be like a Reggie Bush. I run hard, make moves and I can run people over. I can catch and do it all.\"

He might not quite have the breakaway speed that a Reggie Bush has but Herron runs pretty well on the track and he ran well at Ohio State's camp last year.

\"Last summer at Ohio State's camp I ran a 4.52 so I'm hoping that I can run a 4.4 now,\" Herron said. \"I'm working hard on my speed.\"

Herron suffered a slight fracture in his back during his sophomore season but he played in pain through the injury. Herron incredibly rushed for 279 yards and scored four touchdowns against Tyrell Sutton and the Hoban Knights to close out the regular season that year. Sutton, Ohio's Mr. Football award winner that season, ran for 406 yards and also scored four times in a 46-35 loss to the visiting Raiders.

\"In my sophomore year I fractured my back in the St. Ed's game and it kind of slowed me down,\" Herron said. \"There were some games that I wasn't suppose to play in but I just pushed my self to play. If you watch my sophomore film and you watch my film now, you can tell by my speed that I was kind of hurt. It was serious and at one point they were saying that I might have to sit out for a year. But everything worked out all right and I've worked on my speed a lot since then.\"

Last year was sort of a disappointment for Herron and his Harding team mates who finished the campaign with a 3-7 mark and missed the post-season.

\"I just kept working hard and I kept running hard and I kept my head up and I made it through,\" Herron said. \"It was a tough season. It was rough. But I think we're going to have a strong team this year so we should bounce back all right. We have a good junior class, we're very competitive and we're ready to play ball.\"

Herron's big brother David, who was the fullback for Maurice Clarett at Harding, starts at linebacker for Michigan State and more than a couple former Raiders have gone on to play college ball at Michigan. Herron could see himself playing for either of those two schools.

\"Mario (Manningham) calls me a lot and tells me to come to Michigan and stuff like that and then there's my brother (a fifth-year senior next year) at Michigan State,\" Herron said. \"But like people do say, all the kids from Harding go to Michigan.\"

And Herron can't really explain the reason why.

\"They just show us a lot of love,\" he said. \"They come and see us a lot and that might convince us to go to Michigan.\"

Herron attended the Michigan-Ohio State game in Ann Arbor this past season.

\"I had actually been there to see my brother play there before but that was my first time as a recruit,\" he said. \"It was nice. There was a lot of people and it was a real good game.\"

And Herron was in Columbus for the Ohio State-Michigan State game as well..

\"That was really nice also,\" he said. \"Ohio State showed me a lot of love and it was real nice.\"

Herron certainly believes that he's worthy of being recruited by schools in the Big Ten but he's not really caught up in all of the rankings. He's currently ranked as the 31st top prospect in the state in the most recent issue of Ohio High magazine. There are five other running backs ranked ahead of him.

\"I just want to get it done on the field and let things fall where they may,\" Herron said. \"I'd like for me to be the man on the top of the list but if people don't feel the same then I have to make them feel the same. I'm very confident in my abilities. Very confident.\"

Herron has 3.2 GPA and will take the ACT for the first time in May. He's planning to attend the spring games at Michigan and Ohio State this year. He certainly wouldn't mind having the chance to choose between those two schools.